Special thanks to Numskull Games for the review copy!
Battle Axe is an old school game, through and through. From the gameplay, to the look and feel, to the difficulty, to the length. The current indie gaming scene owes a lot to the 8 and 16-bit eras of gaming. They wear this inspiration for all to see, as is evident when looking at the pixel artstyle or the chiptune music stylings of many titles. Battle Axe is different, though. In many ways it feels like a title you might have seen in the arcades in the early 90s. That authenticity is what many old school gamers seem to want, but is it enough to warrant a full purchase in 2021?
Gameplay
The first game that came to mind upon booting up Battle Axe is Gauntlet. It’s a top down hack and slash title with its roots and aesthetics tied closely to Dungeons and Dragons styled Western Fantasy. You wander around, free imprisoned villagers, collect a variety of consumable power ups and currency, and, yes, mow down tons and tons of enemies. This is capped off by a boss fight at the end of each level, followed by an opportunity to use the coins you collect in each stage to buy upgrades and additional health. This is especially important on hard mode as health does not regenerate between rounds.
Speaking of, there are only two difficulty levels: easy and hard. When this game calls a mode hard, it means it. It really feels like an old school arcade game, down to only giving you three lives and no continues to complete the entire thing. It feels odd, though, as arcade games would always have the option to just insert a few more quarters, and when they eventually did come to home consoles the difficulty would be adjusted. This literally feels like you wandered into an arcade with just 50 cents in your pocket. On hard mode the bosses have more low level enemies surrounding them and, well, the game is just harder. As this game is meant to be played multiple times, I would suggest playing through on easy to learn the stages and bosses before diving into hard mode.
Your player character has a total of four ability buttons – one is a damage dealing mobility move, such as a charge or a teleport. Two are attacks – one is a melee strike that makes the game feel more like a Golden Axe style beat em up, the other is a Gauntlet style projectile. This projectile only fires in the direction you are facing, and in this age of twin stick shooters this does feel somewhat limiting, but this was a deliberate choice that the game was balanced around. If you hold a separate button while shooting you can strafe while continuing to aim in one direction, which is very helpful, especially during boss fights. Your final action button uses your consumable item – usually some sort of aoe damage or healing item. I’d hold on to the healing items if I were you, however. You’re going to need them.
Speaking of player characters, you choose from three characters to start, each with their own strengths and weaknesses. Fea the Dark Elf is a very strong melee fighter with a surprisingly effective dash attack but a weak knife projectile. Rooney is a stout warrior with a literal canon that is decently strong and a bit slow, but, again, he has a literal canon that gives him a bit of a run and gun feel. I used Lolo the Druid for most of my playthroughs, though. He had the best projectile out of the bunch, and that really matters when projectiles are the best way to beat all of the bosses.
Presentation
Alright, this is where the game really shines. The presentation is what drew me into this game in the first place. It’s very easy to dismiss an indie game’s sprite work or sound track because, if I’m being honest, we live in an age where there are so many great looking and sounding retro styled games out there. Battle Axe really is a cut above the rest, however. The sprite work is FANTASTIC. The character animations are creative and add a lot of personality to each hero. I love that Lolo’s melee attack is his beard, for example. The art style is very reminiscent of Capcom’s best 90’s arcade titles, and it really shines with the details on the giant bosses. Even the small enemies get their due, though, with satisfying death and attack animations. The music is also really, really good. They’re exactly the sort of high energy tracks that work perfectly for facing down seemingly endless enemy waves. The sound effects are also a delight. Hits, explosions, and enemy deaths all feel appropriately weighty, and the voice work really takes me back to the heyday of the arcade. I love hearing “Faye has found some chicken” when some chicken is found, or “thank you” every time a villager is freed. These little touches really made the game for me.
Verdict
Battle Axe is a hard game for me to judge. It’s both too hard, and in a way, too easy. As mentioned before, the game can be a bit unforgiving due to its limited lives and the amount of enemies that it throws at you. After clearing the game on easy and then hard mode a few times, however, it becomes a bit routine. The game is short. Once you know what you’re doing you should be able to clear all four stages within an hour. Some people will enjoy the challenge of speedrunning the game and there is New Game+ challenge. Still, the game can be feel repetitive and might not provide a lot of replay value to those that aren’t hardcore into this style of game. It looks beautiful, plays well, and is a fun retro throwback. It especially shines with couch co-op, so if you’re thinking about buying this game having someone to play with would be ideal. Overall, I would recommend this game to people that want an old school challenge. If you’re looking for something a bit meatier, however, you might want to look elsewhere.
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I gonna have to try this game soon enough (hopefully at a sale, the full price is a bit much for me at the moment). From I heard most other reviews gave this one either 6 or 7 out of ten, complaints aimed at the short lenght, repetitive level designs, no three player mode, and no multiplayer mode. Otherwise the game appears to be a blast to play. I love the detailed pixal art and the music.